


Imperfect

by maximumdanger



Series: The World We Build (She Ra) [5]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Adora-centric (She-Ra), Best Friends, Coping, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, Introspection, Minor Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Outer Space, POV Third Person, Post-Canon, Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)'s A+ Parenting, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Season 5 Spoilers, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28731984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maximumdanger/pseuds/maximumdanger
Summary: After spending some time on Mara's ship together, Bow and Adora finally have a talk about Adora's mental state.
Relationships: Adora & Bow (She-Ra)
Series: The World We Build (She Ra) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789738
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	Imperfect

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This series takes place post canon, and therefore contains spoilers for season 5 of She-Ra (2018).
> 
> A/N: Hey, yall remember this series? The one I started back in the summer? Well, here it is again! Surprise! While I was recovering from COVID, I rewatched this show and was inspired to write once again. I don't really have a set ending for this series, I think I'm just gonna keep adding until I get sick of it!
> 
> Thank you to lynxladybuglover as always for beta reading!
> 
> Please enjoy, and feel free to comment on anything you enjoyed and what I could improve on!

It was good to be back in space. Frankly, Adora had missed it. She'd spent plenty of time away from Etheria right after they'd disabled the heart (she _was_ the face of a galaxy-wide revolution, after all), but Etheria needed She-Ra, too, so she came back. Not to mention her friends, and of course, her girlfriend.

Catra had felt guilty when Adora had to spend more of her time on Etheria with her, but Adora had assured her that it was okay. After all, she loved spending time with her after all that time apart, and if Catra felt more comfortable being closer to home, Adora was happy to stay with her.

But there really was no feeling in the world like whizzing past distant stars, visiting other planets, and bringing life and magic back to all sorts of people. It gave Adora a new-found sense of purpose, and a thrill and excitement in all their discoveries. The best feeling of all, was being there with her friends.

It was the five of them: Glimmer, Bow, Adora, Entrapta, and Catra. The Best Friends Squad: _In Space!_

Except, right now, it was just Bow and Adora. See, they'd had to start sleeping in shifts after Darla had driven them through a particularly rough asteroid patch while on auto pilot. Entrapta nearly tore her hair out at those repairs.

So, Adora sat in the captain's chair while Bow kept an eye on the controls. Honestly, there wasn't much she could do in the moment. Their destination was a secret to her, still. Bow and Entrapta were the only ones who were in on this big surprise, and even though the surprise was for her, Adora felt a bit left out. She couldn't help feeling restless, aimless, with nothing to plan. Her job was to relax, and that was not Adora's strong suit.

Bow must have been reading her thoughts, because he said to her, "Why so tense, Adora? I thought you were happy to be back in space." He looked back at her with a grin, leaning back against the control panel, accidentally prompting some sort of system's conditions hologram to pop out of it.

Adora smirked. "I am happy to be back. Just a liiitle bored with nothing to plan up here. I mean, seriously, you and Entrapta have been doing _everything."_

Bow let out a little laughter. "The whole point of a surprise is you not knowing anything about it. Think of this like an elaborate gift. You've been doing so much as She-Ra for so long. You deserve to relax for a while."

"I know," Adora sighed, "I'm trying to get better at that. Perfuma says my inability to relax stems from the fact that I was raised to be a tool for a war machine, but I don't think that's fair, because we all kind of were."

Bow raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"We, like, the princesses?"

"Adora." Bow said, firmly but gently. "Before you visited her kingdom, the most that Perfuma was fighting was bad vibes and pests in her garden. She's the farthest thing from a tool for a war machine."

"Okay, sure, but what about Glimmer? She was literally a commander!" Adora replied, a little defensive.

"You got me there, Adora." Bow's expression changed, softened in a way that reminded her of her earlier conversations with him. "Have you talked to Perfuma about any of that? I know she's been doing meditation and therapy with Catra, but has she done anything with you?"

Okay, now Adora was definitely feeling defensive. "Why would I need to do that?"

Bow's face flushed. "Maybe because you grew up in the exact same environment as her?" he offered, "Or had the responsibility of saving the entire world and universe thrust upon you as a teenager?"

"I mean, it's not like I was alone in that. You guys were helping me save the world, too."

Bow scoffed. "You mean to tell me you don't remember all that 'I have to do this by myself, I'm the only one who can save us' talk?"

Adora opened her mouth, then realized she didn't really have a good reply for that one, closed it, and looked away from him.

"Look," he said, "I'm not gonna make you talk about anything you don't want to, and if you think you're fine, I'm not gonna push it. I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me, and I'm sure the rest of our friends are as well. You may be She-Ra, but you're Adora, too."

Adora sighed, leaning her head back against the chair and closing her eyes. "I just don't want you guys to worry about me. There's already enough to worry about."

"Well then, you'll be very disappointed to learn that all of us worry about you constantly." Adora shifted her eyes to see Bow standing with his arms folded over his chest. "Adora, you're our friend. If something is bothering you, it's okay to let us know. Like I said, I'm never gonna force you, but I'm always here for you."

Adora groaned. "You're too nice, Bow."

"I have been told that, yes."

Adora huffed out a laugh, and then shifted forward, leaning her elbows onto her thighs.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Always," he grinned.

"I'm supposed to be perfect, but I'm not. Everyone expects me to always know what to do, and to do the right thing, but everyone has a different idea of what that is."

Bow's eyebrows scrunched together as his kind smile gave way to concern. "Who says you have to be perfect, Adora?"

"Everyone. Shadow Weaver, the other princesses, Light Hope…" she hesitated, before adding, "Catra. I just- I always have to do everything right! It's like I'm not allowed to make mistakes."

"You had the weight of the world put on your shoulders from a young age. You were treated like a centuries-old legendary hero, but you're still a person. It wasn't fair for you. It's not fair to you. You should get to live, too."

"You know what, Bow?" she smiled up at him. "You're one of the only people who makes me feel okay about making mistakes."

Bow looked concerned. Recently, he looked like that a lot around her. She didn't really like it, but it's not like she could tell him how to feel. That's just how he was. He cared a lot about her, and Glimmer, and all the rest of their friends. Hard as it was for him, he even cared about Hordak. He was kind, and intelligent, and a great friend. He loved Adora, and he loved her with all her flaws. He didn't see her as a savior. She was just his friend, who happened to be a champ in battle.

"Adora," he said gently, "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but does… does Catra make you feel like you can't make mistakes?"

Adora's blood ran cold, and Bow saw it.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," he spoke hurriedly.

Adora coughed. "No, it's okay. I mean, I brought it up. It's… less that I can't make a mistake around her, and more so, I guess, that… I convince myself I can't? It's hard to explain, but it's just that, when we were back in the Horde, I was responsible for her. Shadow Weaver said she only kept her around because I cared about her, and that's just a really messed up way to grow up, you know?"

Bow nodded in acknowledgement. Adora gazed past him, focusing in on the distant stars through Darla's windshield.

"Shadow Weaver created this image in her mind of me as her golden child, and she tried to drive me away from Catra by making me resent her, or making her resent me, but I never did. Every misstep Catra took, every punishment she received, Shadow Weaver made it clear to me that it was my fault for not 'keeping Catra under control.' She thought it would weaken our friendship, but I loved Catra more than anything. I know she felt the same way. I think, in a lot of ways, I shattered her image of me when I left the Horde. As long as we had each other, things were perfect. But, when I left, she realized that I cared about things other than her."

Adora sighed, looked back at Bow. "I guess, since we've reunited, I've tried to be perfect for her. I don't ever want her to feel like how she did back in the Horde, so I just… always try to make sure she knows how much I care about her, and that she's not alone anymore. And that's all okay, that part is normal, but I feel like I'm trying to make things up to her." She dropped her head in her hands, voice wavering. "She says she doesn't blame me for how Shadow Weaver treated her, or for any of it, anymore, but I still feel like I left her behind, you know?"

Bow's footsteps clicked across the ancient floor as he walked up and kneeled in front of Adora. She looked up at him, a bit teary eyed, and he put his hands on top of hers with a determined but kind look on his face.

"Adora, nothing that Shadow Weaver did is your fault. Nothing that Catra did is your fault. You didn't leave her behind. You gave her the choice to come with you, and she chose to stay. But you're together again now, and I need you to know that you did nothing wrong, and you have nothing to make up for. All of that guilt that you're harboring won't do either of you any good."

She smiled as best as she could. "You're probably right. You usually are with these things."

"I do my best." He returned her smile. "I really think you should talk to Catra about some of that. Maybe it might help to do it with Perfuma?"

Adora gave an exasperated laugh. "Perfuma's said she wanted to talk to me about things like this before. Maybe 'couple's therapy' wouldn't be so bad, after all."

"I think you should do whatever feels best. And remember that thing that Entrapta always says: 'Your imperfections are beautiful.'" Bow got up and placed a hand on Adora's shoulder reassuringly.

"Thank you, Bow."

"Always a pleasure, captain."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
